Havas Digital chose Blinq Media’s Ruby-on-Rails solution because of its streamlined workflow, its ability to quickly adapt to new features released by Facebook, and its transparent billing practices. Blinq is also able to offer Havas Digital its own API key. Havas Digital can leverage information on its spend volume from the key to gain preferred access to support from the social network, and to court new clients.

Blinq Media Iterates Quickly

Blinq Media was founded in 2008 by Dave Williams, who previously founded search marketing firm 360i. Blinq’s 25-employee team includes many former employees of Page management company Vitrue and others with experience developing on Facebook’s rapid-release timetable. Blinq’s other agency clients include giants WPP and Publicis.

Williams told us that since his team built the Blinq Ad Manager Ads API tool using Ruby-on-Rails, it can integrate new Facebook advertising features, such as Sponsored Stories, into its client offering in days or weeks, opposed to months like some of its competitors. Advertising clients want access to the cutting edge features, giving Havas Digital a competitive advantage. Blinq Media also uses the MongoDB open source database system to be able to quickly retrieve data for campaign optimization.

Along with its own API key that helps Havas Digital strengthen its relationship with Facebook, the agency will have its own data store. This ensures its data isn’t commingled with that of other Blinq clients, and that it can perform its own optimizations.

Havas Digital Needs Speed and Efficiency

Havas Digital tested other tools from less agile search-focused ad services with Facebook tacked on, and pure technology companies that don’t use their own tools, but settled on Blinq. Because of the agency’s scale, it needed a tool that allowed its account managers it to efficiently jump between ad creation, bid management and reporting so they can spend more time being strategic and optimizing. Previously, the agency used TBG Digital’s Ads API tool ONE Media Manager.

The agency’s Global Director of Product Development Rob Griffin told us its Facebook spend “is already in the millions and I only see that exponentially growing 3x, 5x, 10x, 20x.” This projected growth makes it important to have Blinq’s transparent billing system, where Havas Digital can see exactly how much Facebook makes and Blinq makes.